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Kingdom of Terst
The Kingdom of Terst was a Vandal nation, created in 431 after the reconquest of Northern Italian territories which previously belonged to the Kingdom of Lombardy, but which had been lost to the Frankish Kingdom shortly after the death of the Lombard conqueror-king Zaban in 427, and was centered on Terst and various adriatic islands. Tato III promised a fair share of these territories to his Vandal and Obotrite allies if they were reconquered. Arifridos, Chieftain and military commander of the Vandals in the Kingdom of Lombardy set out to do just that and by 431 he had managed to reclaim most of these territories and was named King of Terst by Tato III, who personally crowned Arifridos in Terst in 432. In 435 Arifridos allied himself with Liutperga I, King of Ossola, to defeat a Frankish advance into Northern Italy. Following his death his son Beremud I succeeded him, however in 453 he was dethroned by Sindivult, one of his father's generals, who usurped the throne. Beremud fleat to Ossola, where he was given a place at the court of king Taciperga I, until 455 when the King of Ossola entered Terst with an army and managed to dethrone Sindivult and reinstate Beremud as King of Terst. He then confered on Taciperga the title of "Friend of the Vandals, Hero of Terst", which was a title that was confered on every succeeding King of Ossola by the monarchs of Terst. In 494 the kingdom faced an attempted invasion by the Duchy of Ivrea, however Arifridos II defeated Duke Radoald I and held him for ransom until early 496, and released him only on conditions of a peace treaty, which was signed in 497 at neutral ground at Ossola, where Autulu I of Ossola served as mediator. In 528 Beremud II died without heirs, so an impromptu meeting of tribal elders, generals and various nobles elected a certain Scarila, a nobleman from the east of the Kingdom and personal friend of the former King, as King of Terst. However Geilimer, chamberlain of Beremud, revolted against this and with a band of followers recruited mostly from low-lifes, he raided the city, imprisoned Scarila and put himself on the throne. He then ordered Scarila to be blinded and have his tongue cut out, however Scarila's jailers were secretly his supporters, being related to some elders that Geilimer had ordered imprisoned and so they lied to him that his orders had been carried out. Meanwhile they let Scarila escape and join with his supporters, who planned to get rid of Geilimer and his followers. Scarila and his men planned to attack during a banquet Geilimer ordered to celebrate his victory. On the day of the banquet one of their allies at Geilimer's court suggested that the blinded and mute Scarila should be brought out before the guests at the banquet, a proposal which was "heartily agreed to by Geilimer, who have the orders in "drunken jubilation". Scarila then appeared with his men before Geilimer, and proceeded to slaughter him and most his allies. One notable exception was Argait, Geilimer's second lieutenant, who, though an ally of Geilimer from the start, readily betrayed him when the chance was offered to him, and arranged for Scarila and his men to enter the palace unobserved. Following the massacre he was made the captain of the guard and commander of the Army of Terst. Scarila died in 540, also without heirs, and the elders and noblemen elected Gibamund, his chamberlain as King. In order to avoid the same situation as befell his predecessor he immediately raised the whole army to alarm and had the city under martial law for over a week, before he felt he had secured his position. In 544 he signed a new peace treaty with Ivrea, as a result of Ivrea's "temporary" peace with Spoleto. Gibamund died in 553 and was succeeded by his son Fridamal II, who in 555 married his youngest daughter Guitifrida to Prince Autulu of Ossola, who would later be known as King Autulu II. In 558 he moved the capital from Terst to Sgonico, which he renamed Fridamal. Around 568 Fridamal became acquainted with a certain Ernald, who managed to gain control of the King to such an extent that shortly before his death Fridamal made him his heir. Ernald was hated by the general population and immediately after his ascension Beremud, Fridamal's son and former heir, marched with a band of warriors on Terst, was admitted in without a fight, and crowned himself the "rightfull King of Terst". Then following a two year civil war he defeated Ernald, with the aid of his brother-in-law, Autulu II of Ossola. He then moved the capital back to Terst. In 599 Beremud's son Fredbal I began the construction of a planned city north of Terst, which was to be his capital. However due to several military revolts (603 in Sgonico, 608 in Muggia and 609 in Gorizia) he was unable to complete it and his son Arifridos III abandoned the plan. The site of this city has since become lost. Arifridos III mainly concerned himself with boosting trade, signing a trade agreement with Ivrea in 617, with Spoleto in 622 and with Bari in 628. He issued new rules and guidlines for trade, and published the first complete collection of Terstian laws in 633, though he was mostly interested in trade regulations, leaving all other fields intact. His son Vilimut I continued his father's policies, supporting the creation and management of ports in Terst, to a decree that was considered "absolutely incredible" by his contemporaries (between 639 and 655 a total of seventeen new ports are recorded to have sprung up under royal patronage). He also suported the creation native sea trade in Terst, and even founded a "commerce navy" in 659, a boarder patrol office specifically used to regulate sea trade. Vilimut I died during an accident onboard one such vessel in 672. Geilar, Vilimut's son, began to shift his attention back towards military power (though he too is recorded to have been patron to 7 new Ports, mostly in the region of south Gorizia and South Udine), and began to take steps to create a permanent Navy. In 676 he had to abandon his plans, due to the Duchy of Ivrea's assault on the Kingdom of Ossola. Though Geilar tried to come to Ossola's aid, he was not capable of reaching it quickly enough and the news of it's fall reached him with his army at Tarcint, whereafter he retreated back to Terst. He remained very bitter towards Ivrea, even cancelling many trade agreements and banning ships from Terst to carry Ivrean cargo, and ships carrying Ivrean cargo from landing at Terst's ports, however poor trade with Bari and Spoleto, as well as the failed attempt to open up negotiations for a trade agreement with the Duchy of Salerno, forced him to renew these agreements by 681. He remained very cold towards Ivrea, (once he is reported to have spent a whole night outside in the rain infront of his palace, because he refused to enter it as long as the Ivrean embassador was present within) and his sudden death in 688 due to poisoning was linked to Ivreans, and specifically a certain Teuselmi, an influential official at the Ivrean embassy. Nothing was proven however. This Teuselmi eventually became the Ivrean embassador. Geilar's son Blumarit I began the construction of a permanent Navy, acording to his father's plans. However this interfered with the ambitions of the Duchy of Salerno and so, after several diplomatic disagreements, Waishar II of Salerno engaged Terst in a Naval warfare, the very first time that the people of Terst faced such a prospect. Over twenty ships on their way to or from Tersan ports were sunk by Salerno betwee 691 and 692, however in 693 Salerno suffered it's first major naval defeat and in 698 the fleet commanded personally by King Blumarit I destroyed the entire Salernan fleet at the battle of Isto. This proved such a major loss that Salerno would never restore itself to it's former naval power. Following the battle Terst expanded it's naval capabilities and began to conquer and settle islands in the Adriatic. After conquering Ist and Selve, Blumarit I died while attempting to conquer the island of Unie in 726. His son Fridamal III continued with these conquests, capturing Ulbo, Unie, Sansego and Melada. His son Vilimut II even captured Arbe and Pago in 763, when he confered onto himself the style of "King of Arbe and Pago". The "Kingdom of Arbe and Pago" eventually absorbed all the other Adriatic islands conquered by Terst under Fredbal II in 786. Though it was given some autonomy and even had a Viceroy attached to it permanently, this entity never ceased to be more then an autonomous division of Terst. Finally under Fredbal's son Visimar I the territories of Sebenico and Trogir were conquered in 805, being the first non-island territories in the region to fall under Vandal rule. However King Visimar lost interest in conquest the Balkan area and returned to Terst, where he began a lengthy legal reform, creating a Senate of Terst in 810 (made up mostly of non elected noblemen) and preparing to issue a full revision of the Kingdoms penal code. He died before he could complete this revision, however and it was only finished under the rule of his son Blumarit II in 816. In 820, in an attempt to fund the restoration of the Royal Palace without needing to seek aproval of the senate, Blumarit II sold certain islands in the Adriatic to Ivrea. These became a power base for Ivrea, which resulted in the total conquest of all islands held by Terst in the Adriatic by 828. King Blumarit Ii died in 828 at the battle of East Pago, which resulted in the fact that the only colonial holdings that remained in Terst's hands afterward was the east of the island of Pago and the territories of Sebenico and Trogir. Blumarit's son Arifridos IV was too young to rule when he ascended the throne in 828 and so his mother Guiliaruna reigned as regent. She is credited for building a series of defensive walls around Sebenico and Trogir, and within the east of Pago which prevented Ivrea from acquiring them. However she also had to contend with Salerno, which also attempted to capture these territories. Eventually Sicone II of Salerno was killed at the First Battle of Sebenico in 833, however his son Radoaldo II of Salerno managed to acquire East Pago for a brief time (836-838). Arifridos IV allied himself with Spoleto at this time, however Alboin I The Brave died at the second Battle of Sebenico in 844. Afterwards the new Duke, Ratchis II, called "The Weak", refused to offer any more aid. Arifridos IV himself died at the Third battle of Sebenico in 847. His brother and heir, Visimar II, decided to abandon the Adriatic provinces completely in 848, fleeing from the Fourth Battle of Sebenico before it even began. He then "sold" the territory of Sebenico to Ivrea, however the Duchy refused to pay him. He still remained sovereign in East Pago and Trogir, but he chose to no longer activelly aid them with the help of his military, and thus these territories and it's inhabitants were reffered to as "The abandoned". These lands, while formally acknowleding Visimar as king, governed themselves independently under the umbrella of the "Kingdom of Arbe and Pago", having their own senate (since 849) and army. A certain Gudulus became //Consul of the Senate of Arbe and Pago//, and was the semi-official head of state (he was named Viceroy in 851, the first named Viceroy since 847). Visimar II died in 853 and was succeeded by his brother Gento I. He attempted to reclaim these province initially, but was unsuccessfull and thus only managed to restore a small military presence in the "Kingdom Arbe and Trogir". In 855, following the death of Gudulus, he appointed Geilarith, his own son, as Viceroy of Arbe and Trogir. Geilarith surprised the population by actually landing at Trogir and taking up his residence and soon he became very influential, so much so that Gunthamund, who was appointed Consul of the Senate in 855, was removed from office in 856 and the position of Consul was offered to Geilarith, who accepted. Soon he became very popular in mainland Terst, much more then his father, so that Gento I attempted to call him back to Terst in 857, however Geilarith ignored the summons. Eventually, shortly after the inconclusive battle of Trogir In 859, Geilarith returned to Terst, because he had heard of his fathers ill health. He arrived three days before his father's death, whereafter he assumed the throne of Terst. A certain Munifrida was elected as the new, female Consul of Arbe and Trogir, where she continued to govern the territory until it's final conquest in 873. She returned to Terst thereafter and was nominated to the Terst senate by Geilarith. In 933 Ivrea conquered Terst itself. Blumarit III then went into exile and is known to have died at the court of the King of the Franks. List of Kings * Arifridos I 431-449 * Beremud I 449-453 * Sindivult (usurper) 453-456 * Beremud I (2nd term) 456-478 * Fridamal I 478-493 * Arifridos II 493-515 * Beremud II 515-528 * Scarila 528 (1st rule, 23 days) * Geilimer 528 (11 days) * Scarila (2nd rule) 528-540 * Gibamund 540-553 * Fridamal II 553-571 * Ernald 571-573 * Beremud III 573-599 * Fredbal I 599-615 * Arifridos III 615-636 * Vilimut I 636-672 * Geilar 672-688 * Blumarit I 688-726 * Fridamal III 726-744 * Vilimut II 744-771 * Fredbal II 771-797 * Visimar I 797-813 * Blumarit II 813-828 * Arifridos IV 828-847 * Visimar II 847-853 * Gento I 853-859 * Geilarith 859-883 * Beremud IV 883-907 * Gento II 907-923 * Blumarit III 923-933